Materials may be secured together using many different methods, including, for example, hot clinching and friction stir spot welding. Hot clinching techniques often result in the thermal expansion of the materials. Friction stir spot welding often results in brittle phase formation when joining different materials (e.g., aluminum and magnesium). An attempt to decrease or prevent brittle phase formation in friction spot welding includes adding an interlayer to the materials to be joined. The addition of an interlayer adds manufacturing steps and potentially cost to the process. Other techniques may result in the splitting or cracking of the clinch button.